Monday, May 28, 2012

Canada made pageant history, when a transgender contestant was allowed to contest the Miss Universe Canada contestant 2012. Jenna Talackova was originally disqualified . It was stated that
Miss Universe Canada, which is owned by Donald Trump and feeds its winner into the Miss Universe pageant, selected Talackova to be one of its 65 finalists for the 2012 competition, which will see its crown awarded May 19 in Toronto. Eligibility requirements for various feeders into the Miss Universe system indicate that a contestant must be female and never have been married or pregnant. The rules for Miss California, which feeds into Miss USA and then into Miss Universe, include the broad requirement that contestants "must be of good health and moral character."
 Sp under the criteria of the contestant " must be a woman" Talackova was ruled out. It was stated that  " Talackova had to have been born a female to participate. " This sparked outrage from sexual minority advocacy groups.
The group released a statement, saying, “The Miss Universe Organization should look to state non-discrimination laws and institutions including the Olympics, NCAA and The CW's America's Next Top Model, which do not discriminate against transgender women."
 It was also cited that this case was clearly a human rights issue, but it was not decided whether it fell under the issue of women's rights or transgender issues. It was argued that  because she was recognised as a woman in Canada, it was a woman's right issue, but transgender groups saw it as a victory for the transgender community. But irrespective of this, it still stands that a person not born a woman, was allowed to compete in a competition that clearly stipulates that you have to be a woman to enter into it.
I think its a win for everybody, irrespective of sexuality. I must commend the organising committee for their forward thinking, in that they have the forethought to in my opinion, take a bold step towards equality for all.

4 comments:

  1. I disagree, I believe that Talackova should not have been allowed to enter the Miss Universe Canada pageant in the first place. I firmly believe that these pageants which contain the title "Miss", should strictly be restricted to females; real females. In my opinion, the Trump Organisation saw this as an opportunity to draw in a lot of viewers and also generate publicity through controversy.

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  2. Jenna is a woman now, and I do agree that they allow her to participate. As long as these pageants aren't about natural beauty, then yes, let in the one with the boob job, the bleached hair or the sex change.
    It's what's inside that counts.

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  3. This entry pales by comparison with your last. Literally. I think the type needs to be in bold. What is that first comma doing there? It should be "transgendered." What stated that? There should be no spaces between quoted material and quote marks. You need to have a much keener eye for detail.

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  4. I’m looking for a female employee. She has to be single and not even be engaged , be at least 18 years of age and not older than 25, should have atleast graduated high school, should have no children or be pregnant, be taller than 5”5 and have no criminal record and of course be pretty. How many woment reading this fit the criteria?
    What does this sound like? Discriminatory? Biased? This is actually the selection criteria for the Miss World Pageant. These women go on the stage to represent other women. They portray perfection. But are we perfect? What percentage of the female population are singe, have not given birth and are taller than 5”5? It only, therefore, represents a very minor group of women.

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